Method for conserving flavoring materials



Patented bet. 7, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Ms'rnon i on coNsaavmGrmvo MATERIALS Chester 11. Epstein, Highland Park, and Nathan a.

Gctthoi'fer, Grayslake, Ill., assignors to Graysiake Gelatin (20.,Grayslake, Ill., acorporation No Drawing. Application September 12,1938,

. Serial N- 229,524-

3 Claims.

This-invention relates a method for conserving flavoring materials. Itmay be carried -out in conjunction with natural fruit Juices-orconcentrates thereof or' with synthetically prepared flavoring materialsor extracts or combinations of the above. The invention is particularlyuseful in conserving flavors which are designed to be employed in agelatin dessert composition, but the end-products of the invention maylikewise be employed in any food material employing flavor, particularlythose foods which at the same time utilize gelatin.

It has always been necessary heretofore to employ highly concentratedflavoring materials in the preparationv of gelatin desserts or likeproducts marketed in dry, powdered form. Fresh fruit juices could not beutilized because they contain too high a moisture content which wouldnot be readily absorbed by the other ingredients of the composition. Ina gelatin dessert composition these ingredients usually consist ofsugar, gelatin, citric or tartaric acid and color. Thus a typicalgelatin dessert package as commercially marketed consists of Grams Sugar80 Gelatin 9 Fruit acid (usually citric or tartaric) 1.75

Flavor and color as desired.

If pure fruit juices were employed as the flavoring material in theabove composition, the end-product would be a soggy mass which wouldsoon cake to a very hard product, of poor ap pearance and difllculttodissolve. If, on the other hand, an attempt is made to dry the mix-Concentration, of the flavor by freezing has been proposed but thisprocess is expensive and does not yield satisfactory results.

-The employment of capsules for holding the flavor has also beensuggested but their employment does not completely prevent loss offlavor,

especially of the more highly volatile portions,

and also such capsules are apt to shrivel and be difficult to dissolve.Such capsules also detract from the appearance of the composition. Theuse of flavor buds prepared with crystallized sugar as a coating islikewise open to objection on similar grounds and they are, in addition,ditflcult to prepare.

Finally, it is further well known that many of the concentrated flavorschange. in character as they age, even while being stored in bottles. sothat it is necessary to employ such flavors as rapidly as possible andlong storage periods must be avoided.

It is to overcome the above difliculties that our invention is designed.In a previous application (Serial No. 608,856, filed May 2, 1932) we'described the preparation of a flavored gelatin product which was to beused as a base for manufacturing gelatin dessert compositions and whichoffered a decided improvement over the ordinary gelatin dessertcommercialiy available, particularly as regards storage life. We havenow found that both the concentration of the gelatin and thetemperatures employed during the processture before packaging, as byblowing heated air therethrough, a very large percentage of the flavoris lost. This loss has been estimated to be as high as of theflavor and,in addition, the more highly volatile portions of the flavor, known asthe tops, are virtually entirely lost, so that the finished gelatindessert mixture has ,not the desired true fruit flavor. Moreover, the

ing are critical for optimum results. We have found that in order topreserve completely the flavor including the more highly volatileportions thereof, it is essential that the concentration of gelatin benot less than 1 part gelatin to 5 parts water before the addition of theflavoring material or fruit Juice. Where the Juices are very dilute andlarge amounts are employed in con- Q junction with relatively smallamounts of gelagelatin to only six gallons ofv water. By thus retin itwill be necessary that the gelatin be dissolved in even greaterconcentration than 1 part gelatin to 5 parts water, so that the finalconcentration of the gelatin in the water plus fruit juice shall be ofthe order or 20% of the liquid and shall not be less than 16% oithetotal liquid ingredients.

Our present invention may be readily distinguished from our previousapplication by this increased concentration ofgelatin which we claim asa distinguishing feature. Thus in our. previous application we employed(Example 1, page 3) '10 pounds of gelatin to 15 gallons of water whereaswe now propose to utilize 10 pounds of ducing the amount of water weobtain a greatly improved product and one which shows practically noloss of flavor. The top portions of the flavor are likewise sealed inand are not dissipated during the subsequent dehydration.

Another feature of our present invention is that we propose to work atrelatively low temperatures so that the flavoring material is at no timesubjected to a temperature greater than 120 F. We have found that evenshort periods of heating at temperatures as low as 140 F. result indeterioration of the character of the flavor while mor prolonged holdingat temperatures above 120 F. is also destructive of flavn In our presentinvention we therefore propose to cool the gelatin solution prior toaddition of the flavoring material so that the temperature of thegelatin-flavor composition will at no time exceed 120' F.

As examples of the carrying out of our process the followingdescriptions are given. These examples are not to be regarded aslimiting except in so far as herein before indicated.

Example 1 100 pounds of pure food gelatin are dissolved in 60 gallons ofhot water. The resultant solution is then cooled to 120 F. whereupon 65pounds of a strawberry flavoring material is added and thoroughly mixedwith the gelatin solution. The flavored gelatin solution is thenimmediately spread in very thin sheets by running onto a belt andcooling under refrigeration to congeal the material. Because of the highconcentration of gelatin present the sheets must be very thin tofacilitate the subsequent drying process. The congealed sheets are thenout, placed on trays and dried by exposure to a current of air. Thetemperature of the air is kept low during the first stages of thedrying, not exceeding 100 F., and is gradually raised as the moisturecontent of the material becomes lowered, so that during the last stagesof drying it may reach as high as 150 F. The humidity of the air islikewise preferably controlled to a low point so that the dryingoperation may be carried out with maximum speed. The dried sheets .arethen crushed and ground to desired size before being used.

Example 2 100 pounds of pure food gelatin are added to 100 pounds oflemon juice which have been diluted to gallons with cold water. Theliquid is entirely absorbed by the gelatin to form a solid mass which ismelted by gentle heating at not over 120 F. When solution is completethe material is spread in thin sheets, congealed and dried as above.

Example 3 pounds of pure food gelatin are dissolved in 60 gallons of hotwater. The resultant solution is then cooled to F. whereupon 1 gallon oforange oil extract flavoring material is added and thoroughlyincorporated. The orange oil mixes well with the aqueous gelatinsolution, becoming thoroughly emulsified and does not rise to thesurface. The flavored gelatin solution is then congealed in sheets anddried as previously described.

Example 4 100 pounds of pure food gelatin in the form of 75 coarsegranules or flakes. The gelatin entirely absorbs the liquid to form asolid mass which is then dried without being previcisly melted orheated.

As noted above, these descriptions are given merely by way of example ofthe carrying out of our process. We do not limit ourselves to theparticular flavors or amounts thereof described in these examples nor dowe limit ourselves to the particular method of congealing and dryingdescribed above. Any known method of drying may be employed but'it isimportant to employ low temperature during the early stages of thedrying and also to dry as rapidly as possible. We claim as features ofour invention the utilization of relatively high gelatin concentrationsand of low temperatures throughout the process. By this means only isthe full realization of our invention attained and the originalcharacter of the flavor conserved.

Obviously, also, since flavoring materials are usually employed inconjunction with colors, such coloring agents, as for example, certifiedfood colors, may be added to the gelatin solution without altering theessentialfeatures of our invention. In like manner other ingredients,such as small amounts of sugar or salt or like material, may be addedand we consider such additions along with the flavoring material to liewithin the scope of our invention so long as they have no effect on theconservation of flavor by our process. Large amounts of sugar cannot beused because such amounts would greatly retard drying of our flavoredgelatin solution and would thus tend to defeat the purpose of ourinvention. In addition the-amount of diluting water employed with thelemon juice in Example 2 or with the raspberry flavor in Example 4 maybe varied at will or even entirely omitted if desired, so long as thegelatin is employed in substantially the ratio of one part gelatin tofive parts total liquid.

As an illustration of the effectiveness and significance of ourinvention we cite the following experiment which has been carried out inour laboratory. Samples of the flavored product made in accordance withExample No. 1 above were mixed with the appropriate amounts of sugar,tartaric acid and color to form a standard gelatin dessert mixture. Thisdessert was then packed in standard gelatin dessert containers, using 3%ounces per package, and stored at room temperature. At the same timecontrol packages were also prepared and stored, these differing from theexperimental packs only in that unflavored gelatin was used and theflavoring material was added directly to the batch and mixed in by theconventional mechanical mixin procedure.

These packages were then examined at regular intervals dissolving eachin one pint of water for the purpose, along with a freshly preparedcontrol, made on each date of examination. After one month of storagethe experimental pack was still perfect while the stored control showeda definite loss of flavor. After six months, the experimental batch wasstill very strong in flavor while the stored control was flat andpossessed little flavor. Likewise, the stored control was at this timecaked to a solid mass in the package and was no longer considered amarketable product.

After one year of storage the experimental batch was still excellent andwas considered superior to a freshly prepared control. In other words,at this time, the original bottle flavoring material itself haddeteriorated to a greater extent than the product prepared in accordancewith our invention.

What we claim as new and desire to secure by United States LettersPatent is:

1. The method of permanently conserving a flavoring material withoutaltering its original character which consists in adding the flavoringmaterial to an aqueous pure food gelatin solution, then thoroughlymixing the flavor with the gelatin solution, the concentration of thegelatin being not less than 16% of the total liquid ingredients,including flavoring material, then congealing the mixture by cooling,and finally drying the congealed product and grinding the driedmaterial.

2. The method according to claim 1 in which the gelatin solution iscooled to 120 F. before addition of the flavoring material.

3. The method according to claim 1 in which the flavored gelatinsolution is spread in the form of a thin sheet and congealed while inthis form.

CHESTER. H. EPSTEIN. NATHAN R.. GOTTHOFFER.

